VOTER REGISTRATION
1
What is an Electoral Roll??

As per Sec. 15 of RP Act, 1950, for every
constituency there shall be an electoral
roll which shall be prepared under the
superintendence, direction and control of
the Commission.
2
What is the importance of Voter
Registration??

For a free and fair election, quality of
elector registration process and electoral
rolls is the most important pre-requisite.

Electoral malpractices like bogus voting
and impersonation, in a large part, result
from defective system of voter
registration.
3
What is the importance of Voter
Registration??

The officials responsible for voter
registration are required to be thorough
in all relevant rules and laws.

Any erroneous application of law will
violate the accuracy of rolls and will affect
the purity of election.
4
Registration Process in India
The Constitution of India has entrusted
the voter registration and preparation of
electoral rolls (voters lists) to an
independent authority, i.e. the Election
Commission of India.
 The
superintendence, direction and
control of whole process of voter
registration in Election Commission of
India [Article 324 (1)]

5
Registration process In India
The basic law governing voter registration
in India is the Representation of People
Act, 1950 passed by the Indian Parliament
and the Registration of Electors Rules,
1960 ; made thereunder.
 The preparation and revision of Electoral
Roll is carried out under this framework
of law

6
Registration process In India
Registration process in India is a
continuous process.
 The electoral rolls are revised annually
with reference to 1st January of the year
as qualifying date.
 Publication of draft of electoral roll for
information of general public and inviting
claims and objections.

7
Basically revision of electoral rolls in India
are of two types- intensive and summary .
 The basic unit of revision process is part
or polling station which has ordinarily
2000 persons.
 Part No. of electoral rolls and Sl.No. of
polling station is to be same.

8
Polling Stations
•
Well defined and compact geographical areas in which a constituency is
divided.
•
For each such area, a polling station is provided for polling by the electors of
the part of Electoral Roll corresponding to each of the polling station.
•
Number and name of polling station indicated on title page of part of the
Roll and part number of Roll and polling station number shall invariably be
same.
•
A polling station should not be at a distance of more than 2 kilometers.
•
Each revenue village with more than 300 elector’s population should be
provided with an independent polling station.
•
Independent polling station are identified for vulnerable sections.
•
In case of rural areas not more than 2 and in urban areas not more than 4
polling stations provided in a polling location.
9
Basically revision of electoral rolls in India
are of two types- intensive and summary .
 The basic unit of revision process is part
or polling station which has ordinarily
2000 persons.
 Part No. of electoral rolls and Sl.No. of
polling station is to be same.

10
Electoral Rolls for Assembly and Parliamentary Constituency

Electoral Rolls are prepared for Assembly Constituency
(AC) under the provisions of RP Act 1950

No separate Electoral Roll for Parliamentary
Constituency (PC) is maintained as that PC consists of
Electoral Rolls for all its ACs


Electoral Rolls are organized as geographically defined
Parts which are further organized into Sections and
households
PC
AC
AC
Parts
Parts
Sections
Each Part has an identified Polling Station where
electors cast their votes on the poll day
Locality
Area
Households
11
12
Forms of Claims and Objections
•
Claims and Objections during Revision
•
For an accurate and error-free Electoral Roll, different types of claims and
objections such as addition/deletion/ transposition/ correction, are cleared
by ERO/DO/BLO
•
Forms of Claims, Objections and Corrections
•
The applicants applying for addition / deletion / correction /
transposition should fill the following Forms
•
Form 6 – Inclusion of name (Service personnel to attach “Form of
declaration”)
•
Form 6A – Inclusion of name of overseas electors
•
Form 7 – Objection/seeking deletion of name
•
Form 8 – Correction to a particular entry
•
Form 8A – Transfer of name from one Part to another Part in same AC
13
As per finally published roll the total
electorate is 6676407
 Essentially means that 505020 are yet to
be enrolled

Important Documents Needed for forms
For Married Women
applying for the first time
•
Along with form no. 6
- Age
Proof
- Nationality Proof (Copy of EPIC of parents)
- Proof of ordinary residence before marriage and after marriage
- Copy of proof of marriage (Marriage Registration Certificate)
- Linkage of spouse (if he is an elector of concerned part)
•
Married Woman with no proof of marriage
- it
is a special case and thus E.R.O. will have to be convinced of the marriage
- BLOs will have to conduct the local inquiry to ascertain the marriage
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

The persons falling in the age group of
18/19 years constitute the biggest block
of eligible persons who are yet to be
enrolled as elector. As against 4,74,369
persons (3.70%) only 118,562 (0.92)
persons have been enrolled in the
electoral rolls. Therefore the enrollment
of the persons falling in the age group of
18/19 is the biggest target group of our
SVEEP plan.

Out of the total persons to be enrolled
355807 are in the age group of 18/19
years.
Layout and Structure of Electoral Roll

Electoral Roll is divided into convenient ‘Parts’
with identifiable geographical boundary having
its individual title page under Sub-rule (1)
of Rule 5, RER 1960

This title page is followed by a sketch map
of Polling Station area in that Part

Followed by elector details in prescribed
format

Summary sheet is provided at the end of
Roll of a Part
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Layout and Structure of Electoral Roll

These Parts are further organized into
Sections

The electors details are arranged in 8column format in ‘text Roll’ and with
photo in ‘photo Roll’.

Last Part of Roll, lists the details of
Service Voters (SVs) in English

Number of names added in any Part should
not exceed 2000 under Rule 5 (4), RER 1960
19
Layout and Structure of Electoral Roll
Title Page
Sketch Map
General
Part
Elector Details
Summary
Sheet
Last Page
Service Voters
20
Text and Photo Roll
45 electors a
page
Text Roll
30 electors a
page
Photo Roll
21
Language of Electoral Rolls
Annexure 1.6
Language of Electoral Rolls
Table
Under Rule 4 of RE Rules,
Language of Electoral Roll
should be:

Published in both majority
and minority language
where more than 20% of
electors speak different
languages mentioned in
Annexure 1.6
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Last Part









What is a Last Part?
Who is a Service Voter?
What forms are to be filled to become as a Service Voter?
Where does the Service Voter submit his form?
Can a person with service qualification be registered as an
ordinary elector?
Who verifies the application submitted by a Service Voter?
How are the names of Service Voters arranged in the Last
Part of the Roll?
From which polling station the Last Part is published?
In which language list of Service Voters printed?
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Last Part


Service voter is a voter having service qualification as provided in
sub-section 8 of Section 20 of the RP Act 1950
Service Qualification under sub Section (8) of Section 20, RPA, 1950 means:
◦ being a Member of armed Forces of Union
◦ being a Member of a force under provisions of Army Act,1950 applicable
with or without modification
◦ being a member of an Armed Police Force of a State serving outside that
State
◦ being a person employed under Government of India posted outside the
country
• Service Voters can be enrolled at their native place even if they are
residing at different place
OR
• They can be enrolled as general elector at the place of their posting
where they are ordinarily resident for sufficient time by providing a
declaration in the prescribed format (Annexure 5.5)
24
Some key information

If a wife of Service Voter is ordinarily residing with him then she can be
enrolled as Service Voter by providing a declaration in Form 2 or 2A

This facility is only available for wife of male Service Voters and not to the
husband of female Service Voter

During intensive revision, a Service Voter and his wife cannot be
enumerated as general electors for inclusion in the preliminary Roll

Only those Service Voters who are ordinarily residing with the family for a
long span of time at their place of posting, are enumerated as a general voter
during enumeration (intensive revision) and through voluntary request
made in Form 6 (summary revision)

Those Service Voters who are not enrolled in the last Part
of Roll of their native Constituency and remained in the
place of their posting for sufficient time can be enrolled
as general electors in general Part of the Electoral Roll
25
Forms of Claims and Objections
•
Claims and Objections during Revision
•
For an accurate and error-free Electoral Roll, different types of claims and
objections such as addition/deletion/ transposition/ correction, are cleared
by ERO/DO/BLO
•
Forms of Claims, Objections and Corrections
•
The applicants applying for addition / deletion / correction /
transposition should fill the following Forms
•
Form 6 – Inclusion of name (Service personnel to attach “Form of
declaration”)
•
Form 6A – Inclusion of name of overseas electors
•
Form 7 – Objection/seeking deletion of name
•
Form 8 – Correction to a particular entry
•
Form 8A – Transfer of name from one Part to another Part in same AC
26
List of supporting documents
•
As per the Commission’s instructions dated 7th June, 2011, following
documents shall be accepted as proof of date of birth :a) Birth certificate issued by a Municipal Authorities or district office of the Registrar of
Births & Deaths or Baptism certificate ; or
b) Birth certificate from the school (Govt. / Recognised) last attended by the applicant or any
other recognised educational institution; or
c) If a person is class 10 or more pass, he should give a copy of the marksheet of class 10, if it
contains date of birth as a proof of date of birth; or
d) Marksheet of class 8 if it contains date of birth; or
e) Marksheet of class 5 if it contains date of birth; or
f)
A declaration in prescribed format given in Annexure-1 made by either of his parents if the
person is not educated till class 10 (In those cases where parental declaration is given as
proof of age, the applicant will have to be present himself for verification before
BLO/ERO/AERO); or
g) A certificate of his age given by a sarpanch of the concerned Gram Panchayat or by a
member of the concerned Municipal Corporation / Municipal Committee, the person is
not educated till class 10 and both the parents are not alive.
h) Indian passport.
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List of supporting documents
•
As per the Commission’s instructions dated 7th June, 2011, following
documents shall be accepted as proof of place of residence :a) Bank / Kisan / Post Office current Pass Book, or
b) Applicant’s Ration Card / Passport / Driving License / Income Tax Return filed or
Assessment Order, or
c) Latest Water / Telephone / Electricity / Gas Connection Bill for that address, either in the
name of the applicant or that of his / her immediate relation like parents etc., or
d) Postal department’s posts received / delivered in the applicant’s name at the given address.
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Polling Stations
•
Well defined and compact geographical areas in which a constituency is
divided.
•
For each such area, a polling station is provided for polling by the electors of
the part of Electoral Roll corresponding to each of the polling station.
•
Number and name of polling station indicated on title page of part of the
Roll and part number of Roll and polling station number shall invariably be
same.
•
A polling station should not be at a distance of more than 2 kilometers.
•
Each revenue village with more than 300 elector’s population should be
provided with an independent polling station.
•
Independent polling station are identified for vulnerable sections.
•
In case of rural areas not more than 2 and in urban areas not more than 4
polling stations provided in a polling location.
29
Points to be discussed
•
•
•
Why house no. of an elector in Electoral Roll and that given by the
Municipality is not the same?
What should be done if the name of the person, not ordinarily resident is
included in the Roll?
Where can an elector checkup if his or her name is there or not in the Roll?
Case Studies
1.
In one family their daughter-in-law, Sarita being a family member was a
part of the electoral roll for that household. But she has been driven
out of the house by the in-laws. Now to establish proof that Sarita does
not stay in the household any more, her in-laws submit Form-7 for her.
Sarita has not been legally divorced with her husband, nor the family
produces and such document. Even the family is reluctant to give any
information of her present residence. What can the BLO do in such a
situation?
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Case Studies
2.
3.
A BLO visits an orphanage located in his Part, where ohphans are
brought up and looked after from infancy. He finds that ‘A’ is
eligible for enrolment as an elector. But ‘A’ is not in a position to
give the names of either his father or mother. ‘B’ too is eligible
for enrolment as an elector and he reveals the true name of his
biological mother. What shall BLO enter in the column meant for
father’s/mother’s/husband’s name for ‘A’ and ‘B’? And what shall
BLO enter in the relationship column in such cases.
In one ‘Ashram’ or ‘Akhada’ a ‘Sadhu’ or ‘Saint’ is eligible to be an
elector. He does not reveal his worldly name but insists to be
enrolled in his rechristened name with suffix of his Guru’s name
instead of his father. What does BLO enter in the columns
related to name of father/mother/husband and in column related
to relationship?
31
Case Studies
4.
5.
An elector is enrolled in Part no.35 of a particular AC. His name
is in section-4, i.e. Satyam society. Now he has shifted to RiddhiSiddhi colony which falls in section-2 of the same Part. What is
required to be done by the BLO to update his entry in the
electoral roll?
The BLO reaches the house of Mr. X unknown to the BLO the
son of Mr X, that is, Mr. Y is wanted in a criminal case. Mr. X fills
Form-7 for the deletion of name of Mr. Y on the pretext that his
son has shifted to another State. Next when the BLO visits the
neighbor of Mr. X, the neighbor informs the BLO that Mr. Y still
stays there and that he is hiding from the Police. Should the BLO
delete the name of Mr. Y on the basis of Form-7 filled by his
father?
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Penal Provisions
1.
Breach of Official Duty:
–
ERO or AERO are punishable under Section 32 of RPA,1950 if found guilty of any act
or omission related to the preparation, revision and correction of an Electoral Roll.
–
Court takes action against such offence only if the complaint is lodged by ECI or
CEO of the State
–
Punishable with imprisonment of minimum three months, maximum two years and
fine
–
No suit or other legal proceedings can take place against such officer.
2.
Making False Declaration:
–
Any person is punishable under Section 31 of RPA 1950 if he makes any false written
statement which he believes to be false in relation to preparation, revision and
correction of Electoral Roll
–
Offence is non-cognizable, bailable under Section 31 of RPA,1950 and is based on a
written complaint by aggrieved person
–
Period of limitation starts on the date of the order passed by ERO
An African Saying
The
best time to
plant trees was 20
years ago
The next best time is
now
34
Thanks
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